A US$3-million restoration project will be carried out by Indian experts at My Son Relics Complex, which is recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site in central Vietnam.

According to the Relic Management of Quang Nam Province, the project is supported by India's government as well as experienced Indian architects and archaeologists.

The project, part of several activities in celebration of Vietnam-India Friendship Year 2012 that commemorates the 40th anniversary of the two countries' relations, will be carried out from 2012 to 2016.

Earlier this year, a group of experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under the Institute of Archaeology, arrived in My Son to study and prepare restoration works.

According to ASI, the complex, made up of more than 70 temples and towers built between the fourth and 13th centuries to reflect the divinity of the kings of the Champa dynasty, is one of the major centers of Hinduism in Southeast Asia.

In 1898, French scientist M.C. Paris discovered the complex of ancient towers.

Although it is not as grandiose as the well-known ancient ruin towers and cities of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Cambodia, Borobudua in Indonesia, and Pagan in Myanmar, the My Son historical relic is characteristic of Champa architecture.